


A Passing in the Park

by nanailliterate



Series: Single and Ready to Continue Being a Responsible Parent [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Kid Louis, Kid Niall, M/M, Mentions of Original Female Character - Freeform, Single Parent Zayn, Zayn and Harry are the only adults, kid liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 06:32:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8435227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanailliterate/pseuds/nanailliterate
Summary: Zayn’s a single father and meets someone in the park.(reposted from my tumblr account)





	

Zayn woke up to birds chirping and the soft hum of chatting people outside of his apartment complex. He woke up to soft pillows and warm bed sheets. And maybe his favorite thing of all, he woke up on his own accord and when he was ready. It was a very nice change from waking up to the usual cries of his children that claim to be “dying of starvation” every morning. He peeled open his eyes and took in his clean bedroom, with the occasional Barney doll or monster truck splayed out on the carpet, and stretched with a lazy grin on his face at waking up peacefully today; but all too soon he started panicking because  _why in the hell is there no screaming yet?_

He sprung up from his warm, king sized bed and jogged down the hallway and glanced into Liam and Louis’ bedroom. Not one bed was occupied, and the empty mattress on the floor told him that Niall was up and about as well.

He once again jogged down the stairs - stepping on a Lego and cursing because damn, that hurt - and heard quiet murmuring coming from the kitchen. He jolted to a stop and listened, “No LiLi, the eggs go into the pan not the plate  _yeeet_!”

He chuckled and grimaced at the same time. Cooking, cute. The mess he was sure to find once he stepped foot into his kitchen, bad.

Zayn quietly snuck into the kitchen and made sure no one saw him. “WHAT,” he then shouted, making all the little ones jump, “is going on here?” He finished. He looked around and was  _mortified_. Egg shells everywhere, butter with  _sides _ of bread were scattered onto the counters, and the milk carton that he just bought yesterday was already more than halfway empty, the contents of it pouring onto the tiled floor.

“I- I, oh God, what happened in here?” Zayn asked, now absolutely confused and feeling pretty disappointed that the day had to start off like this. He didn’t remember the last time his kitchen looked like the aftermath of World War 1. Probably years ago when he was still into his partying days.

Louis, ever the brave and almighty, was the one to step forward. “Well you see,” he started, sounding much more like a negotiating adult instead of a 6 year old boy who just got busted by his father, “Me and Li Li and Niall wanna go to the park.”

“… And that means you had to destroy the kitchen becaauuse?” Zayn asked, not seeing the connection here.

“We were uh, gonna make breakfast for you, so that we’d be good boys and we could go!” Liam said timidly, standing behind his big brother.

Despite having to pay for new groceries and some cleaning supplies for all the mess, Zayn’s heart warmed up by the nice thought by his boys. He sighed and crouched down so that he could see eye to eye with them, “Guys, didn’t I tell you not to cook without me?” He asked softly, smoothing down Niall’s hair that he obviously hasn’t combed this morning.

“No, you said that me and Liam couldn’t cook alone, and Niall’s here. So we weren’t alone.” Louis reasoned. Zayn’s only human and he happened to find that very funny so he started to shake with laugher. Alright, he supposes that the boys could have gotten the misinterpretation. And it really was a beautiful day outside; a perfect way to give the kids some exercise.

“Right, well from now on, no cooking without me, specifically. So how about we all clean this mess up, and then I cook some breakfast - and if want to help me you can - and we head to the park, okay?” Zayn smiled. Three guilty faces transformed to three excited and appreciative ones. Collective smiles and hugs and cheers and thank you’s were shouted and then they were off to get the cleaning supplies.

While the boys were cleaning up the kitchen with some instruction by their dad, breakfast was done along with it. Eggs (without the shells), bread (cooked and without the pile of butter), and the rest of the milk (that is now in cups and not on the counter) were distributed and soon everyone was eating. Since Louis was the oldest, he helped Niall, who was the youngest at the age of 3, eat breakfast while Liam had already finished. Liam, being 5 (and two-quarters he’ll remind you) and proud of it, also the most helpful for his daddy, packed things for the park.

Zayn watched as Louis cleaned up some egg off of Niall’s face and Liam pack for his family and wondered how he could get so lucky. Sure, he had to become a father and caretaker at the humble age of 19 - alone - but he couldn’t bring himself to loathe his life now, 6 years later. Not when it was filled with tight hugs in the morning and butterfly kisses at night.

Finally, after clothes were changed, hair was styled, and teeth were brushed, the happy family made its short walk over to the park. Liam and Niall held tiny hands while Louis held onto their jackets, guiding them through the crowd to give himself some sort of authority while Zayn followed close behind. Once they crossed the street and the park was in sight, they looked up with begging eyes, “Alright, go.” Zayn smiled and then watched them scurry and race away to their favorite spot under the old oak tree. He hugged the backpack closer to his side and walked a little faster to catch up to the hyper kids.

“Daddy we forgot to bring toys!” Louis stated, face crushed and eyes sad. Zayn patted his head and dug through the large backpack. “Look what I brought.” Zayn sang holding the white and black spotted ball in his hands. He laughed when he saw Niall and Louis’ faces brighten up and tossed them the ball.

“Tanks!” Niall called out with a huge grin. They quickly ran away (‘Not too far’ Zayn reminded them) and started kicking the ball back and forth. But Zayn noticed a little body that hasn’t joined the rest. He turned and saw Liam digging through his own backpack he packed himself and brought out a notebook and some coloring crayons. Zayn sighed and sat down next to his middle child under the tree.

“Bud, we’re at the park. Exercise time. You don’t wanna join Niall and Louis and play some footie?” Zayn asked gently. Liam looked up at Zayn and shrugged his tiny shoulders, immediately going back to his drawing. His eyebrows furrowed and his little pink tongue pocked out of his thin lips, it all seemed pretty important. Zayn wondered idly what got Liam so concentrated but left him to it. He’s pretty sure once Liam’s done he’ll tell him  all about it later.

And Zayn was not wrong. As soon as Liam had finished, he jumped onto his daddy’s lap and brought the paper directly in front of his face. “Lookie! Do you know what it is!?” He grinned brightly and proudly. Zayn took the drawing and brought it a little farther from his face so he could see properly. He studied it for a while - taking in the small beady eyes, long green hair, and large red smile - and he suddenly understood, and his face fell.

“It’s, uh, it’s your-”

“Yeah it’s mommy!” Liam smiled, taking the picture back and beaming at his masterpiece. Zayn watched as Liam’s tiny thumb rubbed over the woman’s cheek with childlike and innocent adoration. Louis and Liam haven’t seen their mother in about two years, but Zayn supposes it’s his fault that they still remember her face. He has a picture, one of the last pictures Zayn has ever taken of her, on his counter. He has yet to take it down. Although Liam’s drawing is messy and the colors aren’t correct and it’s out of proportion (of course it is he’s 5) it doesn’t take a genius to realize that it’s the same picture.

“You miss her?” Zayn asked gently, resting the drawing on the grass beside him. Liam nodded silently and rested his head on Zayn’s chest.

Zayn sighed and started carding his fingers through Liam’s brown locks. In the slight chance that Liam or Louis ever asked about their mother, Zayn’s always there to cuddle them and share stories about her and the good times. It doesn’t happen often (after all the woman has been gone for two years without a single phone call so it’s not unusual for their young children to forget about her) but when it does, Zayn’s always there. Zayn sometimes finds it hard to talk about her, as he’s still growing up himself, but he’s getting through it and each day seems a little easier than the last.

After a couple tickle fights and kisses on the cheeks and stories about the good 'ole days with dear mommy, Liam’s calmed back down into his happy self. He easily slides off Zayn’s lap and goes back to drawing something else that looked something along the lines of a pink rabid hippo. Watching the contented boy next to him puts a smile on Zayn’s face as pats his sons head.

Wondering who was winning the little game of 'kick the ball’ between Louis and Niall, Zayn picked his head up and looks around. The only thing is he doesn’t see anyone. “Oh no.” Zayn whispered, standing straight up and looking around. They have been at the park for not but 15 minutes and he already lost not  one child, but two.

“No, no, no, no..” Zayn said a little louder, panic evident in his tone and running his fingers through his hair. “Liam, did you see where Louis and Niall left too?” He asked hurriedly, eyes scanning around the busy park. Dogs, old couples, babies, soccer teams; but not the two boys he was looking for.

“No, where are they?” Liam asked. “I don’t know Li that’s why I’m asking you.” Zayn said, a little harsher than needed but he’s freaking out here so it goes un-noted. “Come on.” He grabs onto Liam’s hand to take with him because he’s already lost two kids and he isn’t about to lose a third. They start jogging around the small park, calling out the lost boys names.

“Louis!” Zayn continues to shout again. But this time a happy “Yeah?” sounded close behind him.

“Fuck!” Zayn jumped up from surprise, whipping around and to see Niall and Louis happily eating ice cream. All Zayn can think of is  _oh God you both are so grounded!_ but instead he falls to his knees and brings them both into a bear hug, “Oh my God! Don’t you ever do that again! Ever! Jesus, I was so worried!” Zayn almost yells while squeezing his eyes shut and trying to recover from his almost heart attack.

“Daddy that’s a swear word you owe a nickel in the swear jar!” Liam calls from behind him while Niall and Louis giggle at the word.

He faintly hears someone clear their throat, so he opens his eyes and looks up. Oops, he didn’t see him there. “Oh, hi.” Zayn says lamely, standing back up.

Zayn looks this guy up and down and wonders why this guy was with his kids. He doesn’t look to harmful. Dimples aren’t harmful, and neither are bright green eyes; and those curls on the top of his head don’t look all too threatening either. Before he can properly interrogate the man like the overprotected, tattooed, bad boy father he is, Louis decides to squeal, “This is Harry, Harry Styles. But he’s not a fashion designer so I don’t know why his last name is 'Styles’. Pretty silly, right dad?” He laughs.

Harry’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink and he smiles down at Louis. “Yeah, silly.” Zayn agrees slowly, cautious of the man still.

“Yeah well, as Louis said, I’m Harry Styles. I found your kids over there buying some ice cream, but they didn’t have enough money and the ice cream guy was really starting to get snappy and mad.. So I paid for them, hope that’s okay. And they told me you guys were by the big tree, but you weren’t there apparently. So we were on a hunt to find you.” The man named Harry says brightly. Zayn looks down at his kids and they nod their little heads and are happily about gobble up their ice cream. Zayn relaxes, glad that Harry isn’t some crazy child kidnapper and smiles at him.

“And we found you!” Niall then squeals giddily, trying to get Zayn’s attention by pulling on his pant leg with the hand that’s not currently occupied with ice cream. Zayn laughs and picks the little boy up, giving him a loud kiss on the cheek, “Yes you did!” Zayn coos. He turns back to Harry and extends a hand, “I’m so sorry about this. My name’s Zayn Malik. I’ll pay you back however much you spent on them, okay?” Zayn says apologetically. Harry waves him off and smiles, revealing deep, crater-like dimples, “Not a problem, it’s just a little ice cream.”

“No, I insist.” Zayn says, trying to get his wallet out of his back pocket with one hand while balancing Niall on his arm with the other.

Harry just shakes his head again, “Nope, won’t take your money.” He smiles, hands up and he slowly backing away. “Fine, fine.” Zayn laughs, putting Niall back down, “But really, thank you.” He says sincerely.

“It’s fine, they’re really bright kids.” Harry smiles softly, “Are they all yours?”

“Well Louis and Liam are,” Zayn says, resting his hands on each of the boys’ shoulders, “but Niall’s my sister’s kid. But 6 out of the 7 days of the week he’s with me, so yeah I would say that he’s mine too. I still think of him as mine, and I call Liam and Louis his brothers. We’re just some sort of weird family..” Zayn says, trailing off and smiling fondly at Niall whose trying to protect his ice cream from Liam (who evidently missed out by  not getting lost) while Louis laughs at the pair and eggs Liam on.

“That’s really great of you.” Harry compliments with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

After that, awkward silence ensues while the kids are playing off to the side of them. Harry starts shifting from foot to foot, and starts to back away again. “So uhm, I better-”

“Hawwy!”

The desperate little voice of Niall immediately gets Zayn’s attention and he turns to see the Irish lad stumble and run as best as his pudgy little legs could carry him towards them.

“Ha- Hawwy, where you goin?” Niall asks, out of breath with blue eyes shining as fresh tears are breaching his eyelids. He finally makes his way over and immediately begins to climb all over Harry’s legs, fisting his little hands on his pants.

Harry looks surprised and Zayn looks sheepishly at his overly sensitive and easily attached son. “Woah, Ni, cut it out.” The young father lectures, trying to pry his little one off of the man he just met, “I’m so sorry, again. He doesn’t really - ow Niall you nearly pocked my eye out, stop - ugh, doesn’t really act this way.”

When Niall was finally, and quite literally  _pulled _ off of Harry, Zayn took him into his arms and lightly hit his bum, warning him to behave. Niall looked at Zayn with those sad blue eyes again, but Zayn wasn’t going to give in. Just as he was about to tell Harry goodbye, 2 more voices interrupted again.

“Nooooo, Harry don’t go!” Louis complained, running towards the men as well, “I was telling Liam about how you said that there was a whole museum of outer space stuff and astronauts! You didn’t telling him yet!” The boy whined, pointing at his younger brother. Liam, who quickly caught up to his brother, and now had the sad look in his eyes as well, and Liam hasn’t even met Harry yet! “You can’t go. I was just getting excited about it, I wanna know more!” Liam complained, bottom lip sticking out and all.

“No. Harry probably has stuff to do, he came to the park to have fun, not keep you lot entertained.” Zayn chuckled awkwardly, trying to calm down the situation.

“Is that true Harry?” Louis said skeptically, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms. Zayn glared at his son and mentally made a note to teach the kid manners some time.

“Well, uh I’m actually not doing anything. I was just taking a walk.” Harry said, just as awkwardly as Zayn was a minute ago, glancing between Zayn and the kids.

Cheers exploded out of the little mouths of the Malik’s and with one hand occupied by Liam and the other by Louis, Harry was pulled away and led back to the tree. Zayn hummed warily and looked at Niall in his arms, “I suppose you’re not concerned with the possibility of mentally unstable psychopathic strangers either?”

“Uhm, no.” Niall said thoughtfully, chewing on the last of his ice cream cone.

Zayn sighed and wiped the corners of Niall’s sweet and sticky covered mouth, “'Course you aren’t.”

\---

22 minutes; that’s the world record for how long a person can hold their breath. 300,000; the Sun is over 300,000 times larger than earth. And Zayn bets you didn’t know this; both rabbits and parrots can see behind themselves without even moving their heads. And both Harry’s and Zayn’s personal favorite, cats can sleep 16 to 18 hours per day. Cats and sleeping, how much better can that get?

There are others too. Countless, random facts that Harry’s told Zayn’s kids from just his sheer memory. He doesn’t need some sort of informatory book, he just has the information stored somewhere underneath his mess of curls and brings it out whenever it’s convenient. Apparently it’s most convenient when trying to keep 3 hyperactive, young children entertained. Harry himself was pretty entertained as well, even if he was a 22 year old grown man. But, really, what can Zayn say? The kids love him, and he’s gotten pretty infatuated with the adorable male in front of him as well.

The guys a loon, sure. But he’s a cute loon.

“Hawwy, play footie now!” Niall giggled, trying to throw the football at Harry, but ended up tossing it only a few feet away. Harry smiled but didn’t look all too keen on the idea of moving from his comfortable spot under the tree next to Zayn. Zayn, being the kind person that he is, gently rolled the ball back to his son, “Sorry bud, but 'Hawwy’ is a little tired right now, okay? Go play with your brothers.” He said. Niall gave a little pout but knew not to mess with his daddy, especially after the little fiasco that occurred about 45 minutes ago, and just took his little 3 year old butt over to his brothers without another word.

“Hm, thanks, sorry, I usually don’t get this tired out easily.” Harry smiled sheepishly.

“No, it’s not like I invited you to stay just to entertain my kids, sorry if it seems like that. They just seemed to like you. But if you want you can leave whenever you’d like, you know,” Zayn says a little sadly, but Harry’s shaking his head no which makes him feel a little better. “Besides, little kids can wear you out really quickly.” Zayn continues smiling.

“Tell me about it. And without even doing anything half the time either!” Harry exclaimed and Zayn laughed. Oh didn’t he know that. Kids are exhausting, and sticky, and emotional, and cranky. But they’re also sweet and affectionate and everything else great in the world, and that’s probably why he loves them so much.

But right now he doesn’t exactly want to talk about kids. He hasn’t had adult interaction in a  long, long time. It doesn’t occur to Zayn how much he’s missed it until he’s here, actually sitting down and talking to another adult.

“So, Harry,” Zayn starts, wanting to keep his new companion entertained and rattling his brain for some good conversation starters. “Uh, you like TV?” He asks. Harry chuckles and raises an eyebrow at him, “Yeah I like TV. I like radio too, sleeping’s good as well; and eating. And wow, air is high up there on the list too. Great stuff, great stuff.” Harry laughs. Zayn playfully tells him to fuck off for making fun of him. Harry doesn’t bat an eyelash at the word but teases him that he’s gonna have to pay his 'swear jar’ a dollar later on.

Yeah, Zayn’s missed adult interaction a lot. They talk for a long time, every now and again checking to make sure the kids are still playing (which they are, rest assured) and Zayn’s feeling pretty happy.

Harry tells him about how he’s graduating from university and looking for a job. He tells him about his mother and father and his  _ex-boyfriend_ (Zayn smiles internally at that) and his one older sister who he misses like crazy because she’s off seeing the world with her fiancée. Zayn nods with understanding at the appropriate times and laughs when he’s supposed to. But it’s easy and fluid, and he’s once again glad he can have a normal conversation that’s not about Elmo or color crayons or imaginary dragons.

Zayn feels infinitely comfortable with Harry. And by the time the sun was starting to set, Zayn’s opened up to him more in one day than almost anyone’s he’s known for years. He tells Harry about the tragic saga of his teen years- running away with a beautiful, stunning girl at the immature and still adolescent age of 18. Forbidden love and reality shielding innocence, two against the world, as they saw it. It was great… But then 19 came along and two children sprang into the world with it. Two bundles of stress for his “beautiful, stunning girl” and she just couldn’t take it. Turns out being able to  not take it may turn into depression. Depression paved the way to some new friends, and some of those new friends introduced her to another friend, going by the name of  syringe. Zayn didn’t like syringe, and he kept it far away from him and his children; which cause a giant barrier in between the two lovers. Needless to say and not to long after, she left. A halfhearted note scribbled onto the back of a McDonald’s bag was all she left behind. And then his beautiful, stunning princess was no more.

“Man, I’m sorry.” Harry frowns, sympathetically after the little story is over. “Uhm, maybe you’ll find another girl to be happy with.”

“Girl, guy, alpaca, just anything with a heart.” Zayn laughs. He thinks he should be nervous because in his own weird way he’s just admitted his bisexuality to this stranger, but the gleam and hope in Harry’s eyes tell him that he did well.

“Well I’m no alpaca, but I’ve got a heart.” Harry says shyly, a blush coming across his cheek. Zayn would probably be blushing too but he’s too busy laughing at Harry’s adorableness. “And that’s what I get for trying to be nice.” Harry mutters playfully, pushing Zayn’s shoulder a little with his own. Only then did Zayn realize how close they’ve gotten, shoulders pressed together and hands almost touching.

That’s when Zayn realizes that he’s gone crazy. He knows he has. He thinks he should be put into a mental institution right now, where they could strap him into one of those dentist chairs and tie up his legs and arms and where they can inject some type of sleeping medicine in him and knock him out so he doesn’t do or say anything crazy. He’s pretty sure he’s certifiably  _bonkers _ right now, because all he sees are this 'not so stranger’s’ lips in front of him and the yearning to want to kiss them.

Zayn tries to convince himself that Harry doesn’t want him, a guy with three kids already with too many responsibilities, but he remembers the  _want  _in someone’s posture when they want to be kissed and Harry looks like he wants to be kissed. He also remembers how good it feels. This allows him to lean forward, maybe half an inch, to test the waters. Harry looks as if he’s okay, and it looks like he’s catching on, and he sees how Harry’s leaning in as well. Zayn moves a little closer, a little closer, almost there and then –

“Daddy! Daddy! I needa go wee!” A high pitched voice sounds through his ears.

Harry pulls back like he was just burned with something and starts coughing nervously and guilty, as if he was caught by the police instead of Zayn’s 5 year old son. Zayn raises his eyebrows in amusement and rubs his back a little until he seems to catch his breath.

“Yeah okay bud, let’s go to the loos.” Zayn sighs, standing up and taking his sons hand.

“Great timing, love.” Zayn whispers to Liam, and Liam beams up at him thinking Zayn was serious.

Zayn laughs and helps Harry up as well. He stands quietly; smiling softly and watching Louis and Niall run over to them. Zayn smiles too and looks to his other two children, but once they get close enough, he can tell something’s wrong.

“I don’t wanna go!” Louis yells, eyes already blurry with tears. “No wanna go!” Niall chimes in, looking back and forth between his daddy and Louis. Zayn realizes that Niall is probably just copying whatever Louis does, but nonetheless Zayn doesn’t want to argue right now.

“No, Liam needs to go potty. Besides, it’s getting late and we’ve been here for  hours and not one little boy has had a nap.” Zayn says sternly, letting go of Liam’s hand to pick Niall up. The little boy struggles in his arms and just starts absolutely sobbing into Zayn’s neck. Poor Niall, Zayn thinks, he’s so young and he’s tired and probably just cranky. This one definitely needs a nap.

“Come on.” Zayn says to Louis, but he’s not budging. “Louis. Home. Now.” Zayn tries again, but to no prevail. Louis stands with his arms crossed defiantly. “Louis!” He yells. And that’s it. Louis plops down onto the ground and curls into a ball, crying his eyes out.

Zayn rolls his eyes and takes a deep breath. Great. Niall is squirming in his arms crying for no reason other than pure crankiness, Liam is whining about how badly he needs to use the bathroom, and Louis is now almost rolling on the ground in tears. All the while Harry looks terrified, standing off to the side awkwardly.

“Oh bloody- okay we’re leaving.” Zayn tries again, only to be met with more tears.

“Uhm, I know this isn’t my place,” Harry starts, “but maybe if you make it home, your daddy can let you have some more ice cream.”

Zayn’s thinking that two ice cream cones in one day is a bit much and he’s about to protest but suddenly, there’s no more crying. Louis perks his head up and stands on his feet, “Ice cream?” He sniffles. When Louis stopped crying, Niall seemed to stop too, and settles for peering at Harry curiously.

“Yeah, ice cream.” Zayn agrees reluctantly and smirking, shaking his head at Harry and rolling his eyes. Harry shrugs and rubs the back of his neck, “So I guess-”

“Harry too!” Louis cries, seeing Harry back away. Zayn looks at Harry and bites his lip. He really doesn’t want his kids to start throwing a fit again, but he doesn’t want to pressure Harry into anything either. “I’m sorry, I swear I only live, like, 5 minutes from here and I could use some help getting them home since their so riled up and I could give you a ride home later if you want-”

“It’s fine Zayn, damn.” Harry laughs. Liam, who’s been quiet for a while now, shyly shuffles his way over to Harry and takes his hand. He pulls his hand gently and keeps his gaze to the ground, wanting desperately to go home so he can  finally go potty.

“Okay, lets go.” Zayn says, watching poor Liam. He latches onto Louis hand and balances Niall on the other, and they finally leave the park.

\--–

“Potty, potty, potty, potty!” Liam chants as Zayn’s fumbling with keys to open their apartment. It’s just that Zayn keeps getting distracted because Niall fell asleep in his arms and he’s drooling like a fountain on the collar of his shirt and even though it’s his own kid, Zayn’s never been too keen on drooling and it’s gross and wet and he shivers every time Niall makes a slurping sound. It also doesn’t help that Harry’s giggling to the right of him, all cute and shy and Zayn keeps thinking  _stranger stranger I have three kids and he’s stranger_ but he just can’t help but want do kiss this beautiful boy.

Finally, Zayn’s hands seem to cooperate and he gets the door open. Liam just speeds right by and goes straight to the toilet while Louis pushes Harry in and demands the ice cream that was promised. Zayn quickly runs up the stairs and puts the still passed out Niall in his bed. He tucks him in and places a small kiss on his forehead, and jogs downstairs. He sees Harry and Louis in the kitchen and gestures for them to sit down while he takes out the tubes of ice cream.

“You’re lucky this worked out,” Zayn says, putting three big scoops of ice cream in a bowl for Louis and three for Liam when he gets out of the bathroom, “I might not have had ice cream. And then we’d all be goners.”

Harry laughs and takes a seat at one of the kitchen chairs, “Lemme see. A young guy with three kids that doesn’t have ice cream. Is that even possible?” Harry says, shaking his head at Louis when he offers some of his half eaten ice cream to him.

“Apparently not.” Zayn chuckles. Once Liam comes back from the toilets, Zayn hands him the ice cream and he takes a seat next to his brother. Liam and Louis talk to each other quietly, looking like they could just fall asleep in their bowls at any minute, leaving a very calm and slightly awkward silence for the two adults.

“So, thanks again for helping me with them. I don’t know what it was with them today but they seriously don’t always act like that.” Zayn says. His kids are normally sweet and well behaved and Zayn just really wants to convey to Harry that he did raise good kids. They are the apples of his eyes, and Harry should love them too. “No, they’re good kids. And they really love you.” Harry says earnestly. He then starts to laugh and he says, “You would not believe the things they told me about you while we were looking for you.” Zayn scrunches up his face and groans, what could they have said?

“And what was that?” Zayn asks.

“Nothing much. Just that you make them eat absolutely horrid vegetable related things and make them take baths nightly instead of every other day like they’re friends do (you monster), and how much you love walking around in your 'undies’ when you think they’re asleep.” Harry says cheekily. Zayn could die, he really can, but then Harry’s saying, “But they also told me how every night you check under their beds and in their closets for scary monsters, how you make up fun games when none of their toys seem sufficient, and how you make the best chocolate chip pancakes  _in the whole wide world_. In general, just how much they love you.” And Harry lets out a deep breath when he’s done talking and smiles at him.

Zayn’s heart swells in his chest again. He looks over to his kids that actually  _have _ fallen asleep now, thankfully not in their bowls but still fell asleep, and sighs. “You wanna help me put them to bed?” He says softly. Harry nods his head and picks Liam up while Zayn picks Louis up.

They walk up the stairs quietly and go into the kids’ shared room and settle them down in their beds. Zayn mumbling a “goodnight bat-boy” to Liam (his favorite superhero and nickname), and a “goodnight little brat” to Louis (who just thinks it’s funny when his daddy calls him a brat) and the two adults leave the room.

“They’re so cute.” Harry comments when they’re back downstairs. Zayn pretends to disagree and raises his eyebrow, which earns him a light shove from Harry, “Shut up. You know they’re cute.” He laughs.

“Yeah, yeah. That’s just ‘cause they look like their dad.” Zayn jokes, rubbing his chin and staring “profoundly” at something above Harry’s head. Harry scoffs and playfully hits Zayn again, “Geez you’re a violent one aren’t you? What’s that, like the third time today?” Zayn exclaims, pretending to be hurt and rubbing his arm.

“Sorry, I guess you’re just pretty hittable.” Harry says blushing. Zayn laughs in return and shrugs his shoulders. From there they stand in the middle of Zayn’s living room.

Okay. What now.

“Yeah.” Zayn says. Wow, one word. He mentally slaps himself at how much he hates being so awkward right now. But he hasn’t done this in a while and he’s just terrified right now. Kids are so much  easier and straightforward than adults and will tell you what they want and when they want it. If they want kisses, they’ll ask; if they want food; they’ll ask; hell, if they want a robot dinosaur that shoots laser beams out of its eyes they’ll ask, even if it’s impossible. Adults are different and more complex and just greatly scary.

He realizes that nothing’s happening now, with Harry just kind of staring at him with this little blush on his face. So Zayn’s just going to 'fuck it’ and do whatever he wants right now. He leans over slightly and tenderly kisses Harry, right on the lips for only about a second and a half. “Thanks for the kids thing again.” He says once he’s pulled back.

He doesn’t want to see Harry’s expression right now. He’s scared. But despite that, he opens his eyes. He sees Harry, yeah, but he also sees smiling and he sees relief and he sees that damn blush again.

“Finally.” Harry breathes. Zayn laughs and pulls Harry in again tighter, and attaches his lips to Harry’s again. The feeling is great, it’s sweet and Harry tastes sweet too and everything’s just really  sweet .

“Still want me to take you home?” Zayn asks against Harry’s lips. Harry laughs a little bit and attempts to talk back too, but his words are muffled because they still haven’t stopped kissing. Zayn chuckles and pulls back and fiddles with the curly boy’s fingers, “What was that?”

“I said that that’s okay, I’ll just have my sister pick me up. She doesn’t live too far from here. Plus, I wouldn’t want you to leave the kids alone just to take me.” Harry says, smiling.

Zayn hums and kisses Harry one last time, just a small peck really, but Harry seems happy nonetheless.

“Walk me out?” Harry asks. Zayn nods and leads him to the door, “Thanks again Harry, really.”

Harry rolls his eyes, “Thank me again and I’ll hit you. Your kids are adorable, and so are you, you don’t need to thank me.” He says. He bites his lip and kisses Zayn (again), “Okay I’m leaving now. Call me.”

“I don’t ha-”

“I wrote it down for you.” He smiles cheekily. Zayn smirks and asks and leans against the door, “Where?”

“You have one of those agenda bulletin boards calendars on your refrigerator. My number’s on written on 'Friday’, hope you don’t mind.” Harry smiles.

“Not at all, I’ll call you.” Zayn says, trying to hide the huge smirk that’s begging to spread across his face.

“You better. I know where you live Zayn.” Harry winks. Zayn laughs, gives him a hug, and then Harry’s gone.

Zayn closes the door and smiles, running his hand through his hair and just thinks 'Harry Styles’.

Slowly making his way upstairs, Zayn goes into Louis and Liam’s bedroom. He checks one last time on each of them, Niall’s a little prone to having nightmares and Liam’s prone to sleepwalking while Louis’ prone to pretending to be prone to sleepwalking so he gets to do weird things at night when he’s supposed to be in bed. Zayn’s happy to find each boy in bed, sleeping peacefully.

With one last kiss to all of the boys’ foreheads, he Zayn whispers, “Thanks for taking me to the park, boys.” before he gently shuts the door to his kids room and makes his way to his own.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I uploaded this story from my tumblr account, probably years ago, so I'm posting it here so it doesn't get lost! It's unedited and I haven't made any changes to it.


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